One of the most buzzed-about horror films on last year’s festival circuit, The Witch, finally makes its way into theaters across the U.S. on February 19. An original and meticulously crafted take on the witchcraft horror tale by first-time director Robert Eggers, The Witch is a movie best seen—and discussed—with a crowd. So The A.V. Club would like to offer you the chance to see The Witch before it hits theaters, at one of six cities where we’re partnering up with distributor A24 for advance screenings of the film, followed by Q&A sessions with Eggers. All you have to do is strip completely naked, prick your finger with this magic dagger, and sign in blood right here…
Just kidding. All you have to do is simply send an email to avcontests@theonion.com with the subject line “The Witch” plus the name of the city from the list below where you’d like to attend a screening. (Be sure to include your full name in the body of the email.) On Friday, February 5, five people will be chosen at random in each city to win a pair of tickets to their local screening. Two tickets will be held at will-call under each winner’s name and will be available for pick up on the day of the show. Here are the cities and dates for each screening (locations and times will be shared with winners in a confirmation email):
February 8—Chicago, Illinois
February 10—San Francisco, California
February 11—Los Angeles, California
February 14—Seattle, Washington
February 17—Boston, Massachusetts
February 18—Salem, Massachusetts
Salem, of course, is the site of the infamous witch trials that killed 20 people between February 1692 and May 1693, in a cultural climate very similar to the one depicted in the movie. So don’t be surprised if things get a little spooky that night.
And if The A.V. Club isn’t coming to your city on this particular screening tour, never fear, as the friendly heathens at The Satanic Temple—the same people who erected a statue of Baphomet in Detroit last year—are hosting screenings in New York City (2/10), Los Angeles (2/12), Austin (2/16), and Detroit (TBA) as well. Does this mean that The A.V. Club is now in league with the Devil? Well—kind of. In a metaphorical sort of way.